SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
A Texas nurse was convicted Tuesday of capital murder in the deaths of four patients who died after prosecutors say he injected them with air following heart surgeries.
The Smith County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis, of Hallsville, guilty of capital murder involving multiple victims. Prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase, which was scheduled to start Wednesday.
Davis, 37, was accused of injecting air into the four patients arteries after they underwent heart surgery at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018. During recovery from their surgeries, the four -- John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina -- suffered unexplained neurological problems and died.
During the trial, Dr. William Yarbrough, a Dallas-area pulmonologist and professor of internal medicine, explained to the jury how injecting air into the arterial system of the brain causes brain injury and death.
Yarbrough said he was able to determine there was air in the arterial system of the victims brains by viewing images from brain scans -- something he said he had never before observed in his decades in medicine.
He ruled out blood pressure problems or any other causes of death besides the injection of air, and said it must have happened after the surgeries because the complications occurred while the patients were in recovery.
Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury that the hospital had issues and that Davis was a scapegoat who was only charged because he was there when the deaths occurred.
Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said during closing arguments that Davis liked to kill people. And prosecutor Jacob Putman said the hospital hadnt changed any of its procedures and hadnt had any similar incidents since Davis left.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
4 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SW 10 KM/H
GUSTING TO 21 KM/H |
|
|
|
5 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SW 11 KM/H
GUSTING TO 23 KM/H |
|
|
|
6 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSW 8 KM/H
GUSTING TO 25 KM/H |
|
|
 |
7 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 8 KM/H
GUSTING TO 8 KM/H |
|
|
|
8 pm |
| 25 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
WIND: ESE 15 KM/H
GUSTING TO 19 KM/H |
|
|
 |
9 pm |
| 23 ℃ |
| FEW CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 17 KM/H
GUSTING TO 29 KM/H |
|
|
 |
10 pm |
| 20 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
WIND: SE 18 KM/H
GUSTING TO 39 KM/H |
|
|
|
11 pm |
| 19 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
WIND: SSE 17 KM/H
GUSTING TO 34 KM/H |
|
|
|
|
TODAY |
HIGH OF 27 ℃
LOW OF 13 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF 27 ℃
LOW OF 17 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
|
MONDAY |
HIGH OF 24 ℃
LOW OF 13 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
|
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF 24 ℃
LOW OF 13 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF 25 ℃
LOW OF 13 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF 19 ℃
LOW OF 14 ℃ |
| MODERATE RAIN |
|
|
|
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF 18 ℃
LOW OF 13 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
|
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF 25 ℃
LOW OF 12 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
MADDIE AND TAE
AINT ENOUGH
04:43 PM |
|
 |
KANE BROWN
THINGS WE QUIT
04:40 PM |
|
 |
BLAKE SHELTON
YEARS
04:36 PM |
|
 |
LITTLE BIG TOWN
BRING IT ON HOME
04:31 PM |
|
 |
BRIAN KELLEY
ACRES
04:28 PM |
|
 |
CHAD BROWNLEE
SMOKE IN THE RAIN
04:25 PM |
|
 |
RASCAL FLATTS
IM MOVIN ON
04:21 PM |
|
 |
KELSEA BALLERINI
PATTERNS
04:18 PM |
|
 |
JESSIE JAMES DECKER
I NEED A MAN
04:12 PM |
|
 |
UPCHURCH
LOVE HER AGAIN
04:08 PM |
|
 
 |
